asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will investigate the circumstances surrounding the detention of an Irish national (details supplied) in Tenerife who was in detention for over two months without trial and was refused bail; and if he will try to ensure that an early trial is granted.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Detention of Irish National.
7.
The Department of Foreign Affairs learned at the end of March that the Irish citizen in question had been arrested earlier in the year in Tenerife in the Canary Islands. They immediately initiated inquiries through our Honorary Consul in Tenerife and found that the person had been arrested on 24 January along with 16 British nationals following an incident in a bar. The local judge had refused bail in the case and this refusal was confirmed by the local High Court on appeal.
Neither our Honorary Consul nor our Embassy in Madrid had been notified of the arrest. Our Honorary Consul has lodged a formal complaint with the local authorites about this and our Ambassador in Madrid has raised it with the Spanish Foreign Ministry.
In the past ten days the prosecution in the case has reduced the gravity of the charge against the individual concerned and on Tuesday last, 10 May, he was released on bail. The trial date is set for Friday, 27 May.
This person was arrested more than four months ago and he has been released on bail as and from last week. Events have somewhat overtaken the purpose of the question. Would the Taoiseach find out who is telling the truth, because there seems to be a conflict as to whether the man, having been arrested was charged or not? The Spanish Embassy in Dublin, in a letter to the national newspapers indicated that he was charged. My information is that he was never charged, that the accused did not know that he had been charged. Could the Taoiseach please find out if there was a formal charge made at any stage? I do not wish to adjudicate on the rights and wrongs of the case, but I should like to think that normal standards of justice apply in this instance.
My opinion is that he was not charged.
I am glad to hear that, because that was my information and it contradicts what the Spanish Embassy in Dublin have been saying. Further, does the Taoiseach feel that there is a case for having a permanent representative from the Irish Diplomatic Corps in places such as Teneriffe, or the Costa del Sol, or the Balearic Islands, in view of the huge number of Irish tourists and business people who visit these areas each year——
The Deputy is extending the scope of this question. It is a separate matter.
Would any of these people have recourse to any normal legal system in the case of an incident or an alleged incident?
I suppose that it would be desirable that we would be represented as widely as possible, but our resources, as the Deputy knows, are greatly constrained. So far, the consular service has been able to deal with situations as they have arisen. In fact, they seem to have been quite effective in handling this case.
The family of the young man feel very much to the contrary. That is probably their greatest complaint. The honorary consular system, while it may be effective in certain instances, was not satisfactory in this case.
The Deputy must proceed by way of a supplementary question.
There is a large volume of business involved in such areas.
I am calling the next question.
Would the Taoiseach have a look at the possibility of this type of representation?
Very good.